


Trash Man

by disgraceRavenclaw



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: (ill try to make it one but oh honey im impatient), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, He also got hit by a car but we're not gonna talk abt that cause cars scare me, I saw a scene from a movie where Mike Faist gets shoved in a dumpster, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, T for swearing, connor is gonna listen to 100 gecs fuck you, forgot what its called but i saw it and thought "that could be a meet-cute", gec gec gec gec gec, maybe kissing if i ever write that lmao, no beta we die like men, no upload schedule, right at the end of junior year, takes place before the musical, this is just my drunken quarantine mistake baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24223969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgraceRavenclaw/pseuds/disgraceRavenclaw
Summary: It's the end of Evan's junior year, and he's so not fucking ready to have to upkeep a friendship during the summer, especially with his declining mental health. Then again, who knows? Dr. Sherman always said a support system was important...
Relationships: Evan Hansen/Connor Murphy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Trash Man

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, no upload schedule, no plan, no first draft, just like God intended. May or may not finish it, will try really hard to. Chock full of headcanons. I'm just here to have a good time B)

Evan wandered through the hallways. It was the last day of Junior year, and he was ready to go home before the school day even began. Everyone was louder than usual, and it was deeply overstimulating.

Someone grabbed Evan’s shoulder, causing him to jump. He turned around and stumbled away from his pursuer. Jared raised his hands in defense. “Woah, hey! Damn, someone is jumpy this morning.” 

“Sorry! Sorry, Jared, I… You just- uh, surprised me.” Evan picked at the hem of his shirt and looked down at his shoes. Oh, god, one of his shoes were untied.

Jared shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. Are you ready to blow this fuckin popsicle stand? One more day, and we’re free for the next three months!”

Evan nodded. “Uh, y-yeah. Yeah.” Would it be impolite to just bend down and tie his shoe now? Well, it wasn’t like it was extremely important, maybe he should wait. But hold on…

“I’m going to this sick camp across the state for the summer. My mom is making me pay for half of the fee, so I had to work my  _ ass _ off to get enough money to go. Like, it’s pricey, but thats probably cause it’s mega fucking high class. The pamphlet said there was a pool  _ and _ a hot tub.”

What if Evan forgot to tie his shoe after Jared was done talking? He could, like, trip and fall on his face, and everyone could see him. He would hurt his face, and everyone would laugh… but he couldn’t just tie it right now, Jared was talking. That would be rude. Maybe he could interrupt for just a quick moment. “H-Hey, cool, uh, Jared-”

“What are you doing this summer?” Jared crossed his arms. “Not cause I care, but I wanna know how you’re gonna cope with me gone all summer. I’m kind of the closest thing to a friend that you have.”

Shit. Shit, he’s asking a question. “Uh, um… yeah, uh, I’m going to be an ap- an apprentice park ranger, uh, at the-”

Jared opened his mouth for a loud fake yawn. “Yeah, real cool or whatever. Say, I gotta go to class. We’re doing fuckin' nothing all day. Easiest day of the year, right?” Jared turned and walked away from Evan. “Later!”

Evan frowned. “Uh, yeah. Later.” He backed up, getting ready to turn, but smacked right into someone at their locker instead. He whipped around as they shot him an annoyed glare. “Ah! Uh, Sorry. Sorry.” Evan averted his eyes and race-walked away from them. 

Jared was right; this was going to be the easiest day of the year. Evan took a deep breath as he walked, trying to keep his eyes on the crowd of people instead of the floor just to make sure he didn’t run into anyone else.

The first two periods passed uneventfully. Students sat around talking to each other or, in Evan’s case, browsing their phones. Evan scrolled mindlessly through instagram, trying not to look like he was listening to anyone’s conversations. He was, a little bit. Nobody really spoke to Evan, so casual eavesdropping was how he got the low down on what was going on around school. That, or Alana would stop him in the hall and tell him what she heard. That wasn’t usually something he chose to be a part of, though.

A group of boys whispered to themselves, pointing at something on the phone of the boy in the middle. “What are you gonna do about that?”

“Obviously, I’m gonna get his ass, Trent.”

“Yeah, last day of school. We can’t get in trouble for this shit.”

Evan pursed his lips. “Well, you can…” he said to himself. He must have said it too loud, because one of the boys (Trent, presumably) looked up at him.

“What’d you just say?”

“Huh? Uh, n-nothing.” He shrank in his seat, looking down at his phone. The boy to thee left of Trent snorted. “Nuh- Nuh- Nothing,” he mimicked, and the boys erupted into a bout of chuckles. Evan felt his face heating up in embarrassment, but their attention was mostly off of him as they moved to a new cluster of desks.

The day was finally over. As the bell reverberated through the hallway, Students cheered and ran through the door. Some hugged their teachers goodbye, and others still gathered with their friends. Evan just paid attention to the tiles in front of him. He’d had this awful feeling all day, like he’d forgotten something. However, it came back to him in one terrifying moment as he stepped on his untied shoelace, and lurched forward. 

Time seemed to slow down as he approached the floor. He held his arms out to stop his descent, but it was no use. He collided with the cold tile, face first. Some students rushed out of the way. 

Evan curled his fists up as pain flared in his nose. As some people pointed and laughed at his misery, he tensed up. Pushing himself to his feet, he tried to save his situation, but in getting up he slipped on the sleek floor again. Even more people laughed. 

Finally, Evan bolted to his feet, face red with embarrassment. “Nice save, dipshit!” Someone barked through the hysteria. Evan ran through the hall, pushing past other people. This was not ideal.

Evan  _ knew _ he should’ve tied his shoes before he forgot, and now the whole school was gonna hear about how he fell on his face like an idiot. It would have been worth the scathing comment from Jared if he’d just tied his damn shoe laces.

Just around the bend was a bathroom. Evan took refuge in one of the stalls, and waited until he didn’t hear anyone (Or at least not many people). Once the coast was clear, he peeked his head out into the hallway. There was nobody there. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Evan leaned back onto the wall, trying to get his breathing to a more normal speed. What was it his therapist had told him to do when he was feeling an attack coming on? Self pep talks, right? Right. How the hell did you do those again?

“Uh- um, Okay… Evan…” Evan swallowed nervously and picked at his cuticles. “You’re fine. You’re good. It’s not- It’s not like… like everyone's going to remember that. Summer- It’s almost summer, a-and everyone's gonna forget about it, and you don't- you won’t have to come into school the next day and hear people laughing about you. You just…” He looked out into the hallway, making sure it was still empty. “You just have to… go on knowing they’re going to talk about you without you knowing about it.”

Well, that didn’t really help at all.

Evan walked to the sink and turned it on. He splashed a little water in his face, hoping to calm down and make his face not so red anymore. It was still kind of red when he looked in the mirror. He just looked very sweaty now. Sighing, he grabbed a paper towel and dried his face off, then walked carefully out of the hallway.

As he made a few turns, he only saw a few other people. Luckily, they must have not been around when he fell on his face, because nobody even spared him a glance. It was depressing, but very relieving in it’s own way. 

Once Evan got to the exit at the end of the hallway, he paused to get some fresh air. He leaned against the wall and breathed in.  _ In for 6 seconds. Hold for 4. Out for 8. In 6. Hold 4… _ Evan let out a long sigh. Junior year was finally over, and it only destroyed him mentally and scarred him in a way he’d likely never heal from completely. He was fine.

When Evan pushed off of the wall and began to walk forward, however, he heard a group of people angrily shouting somewhere nearby. He paused, trying to listen in and see where it was coming from.

_ “Im…. fucking destroy… if you ever… got it?” _

_ “Eat my ass.” _

_ “You think you’re funny? Oh, he… funny. ...Show him what we think is  _ **_funny._ ** _ ” _

It sounded like it was coming from behind Evan. Evan jumped back as he heard a few more shouts and a loud metallic clang.  _ It’s definitely behind me. _ Evan turned around and stared at the origin of the noise. There was nobody he could see, but a ways down the wall stopped and lead to a passage on the right.

Which was also Evan’s route home.

Evan bit at his nails. He could try walking through the alley, but he would certainly get caught in the middle of… whatever was going on in there. He could also try walking past the turn really fast and going around the school building instead of through that shortcut, which would add a few minutes onto his walk, but would save him a lot of trouble.

Option two sounded much nicer.

Evan crept quietly towards the edge of the wall, trying not to disturb whoever was in there. Once he got to the edge, he peeked into the space.

Next to the dumpster stood Trent and his group of friends. They looked like they were messing with the lock of the dumpster. Evan took a deep breath and got ready to run to the other side of the wall, but then…

“Hey, we got a witness!”

Three of the boy turned to look at Evan, who was being pointed at by a fourth. Evan froze in place, still leaning against the wall. The five of them stood, locked in a staring contest for a fleeting moment. Then, everything went to shit very quickly.

Trent strided forward with purpose, and Evan scrambled backwards. He tripped on the edge of the sidewalk and came down on his rear, palms scraping against the concrete. Trent gained on him in no time and grabbed him by the collar. He dragged Evan to the space between the school buildings and shoved him against the dumpster. Evan flinched, and looked up at the boys fearfully.

One of them got right up in his face. “How much did you see, fucker?”

“Nothing! Nothing- I sw- I promise, I didn’t- i didn’t s-see-”

“What’d you  _ hear?” _ chimed another, grabbing Evan’s shoulder and shoving him hard into the dumpster.

Evan shut his eyes and shook his head, cowering away from them. “I didn’t hear anyth-thing, I just- I was wa-walking h-home, I didn’t- I wasn’t- I didn’t hearanythingididntseeanythingisweariwwonttellanyone!”

The words just kept erupting from his mouth. One of the boys pulled the two away from him. “Jesus fuck, Dylan! He didn’t do shit, let’s scram before we get in worse trouble.”

Dylan shoved the boy. “Since when did you give a fuck about getting in trouble?”

“ _ Guys. _ ” Trent shoved them apart. “Fuckin’ quit it.” He stepped forward, and Evan shrunk against the dumpster, pressing his body into a corner made by it and the brick wall adjacent to it. Trent bent down. “You’re not gonna cause trouble, right?”

Evan shook his head.

Trent seemed satisfied. He stepped back and looked at his friends. “Lets fuckin blow this popsicle stand before he gets outta there, yeah?” They all made noncommittal comments to each other, then swaggered down the path, and away from Evan.

Evan pressed his back against the brick wall. His breath was rapid, his chest rising and falling in short gasps. His heart felt like it was racing, and he could feel his pulse racing up his neck and out through his arms.

Looking down at his palms, Evan winced. They were all scratched up from the fall on the concrete. Besides that, his elbow was bleeding a little from being shoved so close to the brick. Evan hugged himself and slid down against the wall. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes.  _ In 6, hold 4, our 8, in 6, hold 4, out 8… in 6… out 4… _ Evan covered his head and sobbed, hiccuping as he tried to steady his breathing.

Eventually, Evan managed to breathe a little easier. His hands were shaking and he felt like he might vomit… but he was breathing better, so his panic attack was on the downturn.

“...So.”

Evan yelped as he heard a faint voice from behind. He jumped up and flailed backwards, looking around. 

The voice continued, a little louder this time. “Oh, shit. Good. I thought you left or something.” Evan blinked. There was nobody around. The voice had a slight metallic tinge to it. Suddenly, the dumpster lid jumped as something inside pounded against it, causing Evan to flinch. “I don’t know about you… but i’m in a dumpster. So… not a good time i’m having.”

Evan stepped closer to the dumpster. “Oh, oh my god, are you okay?”

“ _ I’m in a dumpster!” _ the voice yelled back.

“S-Sorry! I- That was a stupid ques- I mean, did- like, besides… that?”

The boy in the dumpster sighed. “I’ve been worse. You?”

Evan shrugged, looking down at his hands. “Been better.”

“Haven’t we all. Can you get this fucking lid open? I can’t open it from the inside.”

Evan looked up from his hands. “OH! Oh, yeah, uh… gimme a second. I’ll-” Evan rushed over to the dumpster. Luckily, the lock on it was just some sliding hatch, so he didn’t need a key or anything. He unlocked the lid and pushed it open, wincing at his stinging palms.

Inside of the dumpster was a boy with brown hair that was a little longer than average, coming down a little bit past his jaw. It was splayed out against a box in the dumpster. “Little help?” he asked, looking up at Evan. 

“Yeah.” Evan reached a hand into the dumpster and Connor grabbed onto him, pulling himself out of it. Trash shifted in the dumpster as he tried to get his footing. 

When the boy managed to pull himself out of the dumpster, he leaned against the wall. “ _ Fuck. _ I’m gonna smell like trash all fucking day.” He scowled. “This is so shitty.”

“S-sorry I couldn’t help you out. It’s just.. Well, you saw- uh, heard? When they saw me, I- I wasn’t much good at, uh… doing any-”

The boy waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He sighed, and looked at Evan. “Who are you? I… don’t think i’ve seen you around in any of my classes.”

Evan swallowed nervously. “Uh- Evan Hansen. I wouldn’t be surprised if- if you didn’t, uh, know me? I don’t really like, uh… um, being known all that much. I’m not very loud.”

“Connor Murphy.” Evan looked up at Connor, who gave him a curt nod. “Good to meet ya. Thanks for, like… helping me out of a dumpster, or whatever.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah! Yeah, of course.” Connor Murphy? As in, the brother of  _ Zoe Murphy _ ? The girl Evan had been crushing on since the second semester of his sophomore year? Small world.  _ Well, not really- I mean, they’re siblings, of course- of course they go to the same school. What are you even saying? _

Connor frowned. “Like, I get my reputation precedes me, or whatever, but you don’t have to act like i’m a threat all of a sudden.”

Evan held his hands up. “No! No, I wasn’t- it’s just- No, I… I’m just still, like, shaken up I guess? From the… y’know. I have a bad constitution.” Evan picked at the hem of his shirt and laughed nervously. 

Connor raised an eyebrow. “I can see that.” Evan shrugged and just nodded, which made Connor’s eyebrow fall. “”But, not like.. No, not in like a mean way. You just seem kind of… uh, all over the place, I guess.”

“Yeah, you could say.”

They both stood there, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Connor broke the silence first. “Hey, can you give me your hand?”

Evan looked back up at Connor. “Huh? Uh, okay…” He held out his hand. Connor reached into his bag, which was hanging from one shoulder, and pulled out a red sharpie. “It was cool of you to help me out of a dumpster, and you don’t seem like a total jerk, so…” 

Connor took Evan’s hand, and Evan winced at the scrapes on his palms. Connor looked back up at Evan, and nodded his head. “Sorry.” He looked back down and wrote a string of numbers on the back of Evan’s hand. When he was finished, he capped the pen. Evan looked down at the numbers, which spelled out a phone number. 

Looking back up at Connor, Evan shot him a quizzical look. “You can, like, call me or whatever, and we can go somewhere. As thanks for, y'know… Sorry, i’m getting real fuckin tired of saying the word  _ dumpster. _ It’s starting to sound wrong.”

Evan looked back down at his hand. “Oh, um… thanks. Yeah, i’ll text you when, um… when I get home?”

Connor frowned. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I do!” Evan said. “I do, um, want to. Going somewhere sounds like fun. I know an ice cream shop, it’s uh- it’s not far from here, I used to go there all the time.”

Evan smiled awkwardly at Connor. Connor just shrugged, a ghost of a smile of his own on his lips. “Yeah, I like ice cream, we can do that.” he clutched his bag and started walking away. “See ya, Evan.”

Evan watched him go, then looked back down at the number on his hang. He grabbed his backpack and continued the opposite way of Connor, down the path.

**Author's Note:**

> ehhh enjoy, the only reason I brought this to you is because classes have officially been cancelled thanks to c*rona


End file.
